title: Chemical composition and antioxidant capacities of phytococktail extracts from trans-Himalayan cold desert.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Himalayan plants are widely used in traditional system of medicine both as prophylactics and therapeutics for high altitude maladies. Our aim was to evaluate the antioxidant capacities and bioactive compounds of methanol and n-hexane extracts of the phytococktail comprising of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), apricot (Prunus armeniaca) and roseroot (Rhodiola imbricata) from trans-Himalaya.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) and nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging capacities and lipid peroxidation inhibition (LPI) property of the extracts were determined. Total antioxidant power was determined by ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Total polyphenol, flavonoid, flavonol, proanthocyanidin and carotenoid were also estimated for both extracts. We have identified and quantified the phyto-chemotypes present in the methanol and n-hexane extracts by hyphenated gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Antioxidant capacity assays using DPPH, ABTS, NO, LPI and FRAP exhibited analogous results where the phytococktail showed high antioxidant action. The phytococktail was also found to possess high quantity of total polyphenol, flavonoid, flavonol and carotenoid. A significant and linear correlation was found between the antioxidant capacities and bioactive principles. A total of 32 phyto-chemotypes were identified from these extracts by GC/MS chemometric fingerprinting. Major phyto-chemotypes identified by GC/MS were glycosides, phenylpropanoids and derivatives, terpenoids, alkaloids, phytosterols, fatty acids and esters, alkaloids and derivatives, organic acid esters and aromatic ethers with positive biological and pharmacological actions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The phytococktail extracts were found to contain considerable amount of diverse bioactive compounds with high antioxidant capacities. The presence of hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidants in the phytococktail could have contributed to the higher antioxidant values. Hence, the phytococktail could be used as natural source of antioxidants to ameliorate disorders associated with oxidative stress.
authors.affiliation: Defence Institute of High Altitude Research, Defence Research & Development Organisation, C/o 56 APO, Leh-Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Pin 901205, India. dropchaurasiadihardrdo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Priyanka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dhar
authors.forename: Prabodh Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Bajpai
authors.forename: Amol Bapurao
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Tayade
authors.forename: Om Prakash
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Chaurasia
authors.forename: Ravi Bihari
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Shashi Bala
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D003081:Cold Climate; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000032:analysis; D031281:Hippophae / Q000737:chemistry; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D010851:Picrates; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D027861:Prunus / Q000737:chemistry; D029771:Rhodiola / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D005419:Flavonoids; D010851:Picrates; D010936:Plant Extracts; C004931:1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl